Two factors musicians shouldn't be concerned about are charts and record sales. Record labels and other artists tend to focus more on these subjects, as it is the best way to recoup ADVANCES and also to get more royalties from signed artists. Musicians should always remember that quality body of work is the only perfect path to success. You get paid more according to the quality of your project and your hard work.
Scarcity
Rareness, might be the only antidote to enhance the chemistry or rapport between a popular figure and his /her followers, indirectly. If you track J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar , they create an anticipation state in their followers by withdrawing themselves away from social media, news or any other mass media stories. As an advantage, due to the anticipation induced in fans, these fans will be aniously waiting or eager to see new products or projects from their idols. In return they are guaranteed an enhanced number of streams and record-sales. One other reason they do this is because J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar invest more hours and months in carrying out a research , writing and in studios , they put their hearts and souls in their work so that by the time they release their projects , that released project will have a place on the most essential albums or songs list. These two stars have got no time to impress people on social media , they are constantly working.
Non-continuous release of projects/songs.
The best way to create a classic long lasting project is by putting more days and months working , reading widely as well as carrying out a research(about whats happening in the world /community, problems faced by people e.t.c ) for it and implementing new concepts . A continuous release of albums, singles or mixtapes indicate lack of seriousness and focus towards your work and as i mentioned before, you projects will lack depth and complexity. This is what J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar do to avoid trash-talk on their records . They engaged themselves in a non-continuous release of projects motion and they make sure to create and release a quality-classic project / products whenever they release them. For example, "To Pimp A Butterfly", Kendrick Lamar's third studio album which was released in 2015 , he took 2 years to write and record this 15 track album and then released "DAMN", his 4th studio album in 2017, another two years from 2015. "4 YOUR EYEZ ONLY",J. Cole's 4th studio album which was released back in 2016 and then he released "K.O.D (Kids On Drugs)" , in 2018. Another two year working space.
Humbleness
For example , another way for a business person to attract more customers is to humble himself / herself and connect to his / her customers to a personal level . Cole and Lamar (especially Cole) knew that the only way to gain more fans and strongly connect with people to a personl level is by being a regular / humble and they downvoted being flossy, which is an effective strategy in music career management . They act like slummers, broke-poor rappers but they make up the top 5 list of the most paid rappers according to Forbes.
Solid-Classic projects with complexity and depth
in music, its not about being signed to a major record label or a healthy pocket(sometimes its crucial but not always ) for an artist to produce a quality classic album or single, its all about hard work and time invested in a project . J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar are known for supporting the antagonization of trending waves, they encourage artist to create their own waves, they are both allergic to hit sounds. Only two or three hit tracks are noted in their albums, even though hit tracks tend to derive accolades and money nowadays. As usual, they study the heart, soul, mind and day to day lifestyle of their fans and create solid-classic records accordingly. Despite their beats being critised by many people , any song with J.Cole or Kendrick Lamar will always have a place on top of the billboard charts.
Consistency
Consistency, the only factor that differentiate a world class artist and an average artist. Most rappers create magnificent projects at start and they fail to deliver the same type of content in thier next project thus, the beginning of their downfall .Consistency is something easy to an innovative / creative artist. Musicians have to be extremely creative as well as being versatile (i will describe more about versatility later in this post) , but how do these two stars handle it ?. There is no such thing as being stagnant to J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar. This is their secrete, they rarely vacate. Why ? . Because if you want be consistent in doing great work you need to be creative at the same time exploring things drawing world attention so that you can create your content accordingly and this process of creativity is a difficult nut to crack .They put other things aside whenever studio sesssions approaches. When they reach their expectations, they don't rest, they keep on searching for more information, analyzing the world system and deliver it to the world in a best and motivating way.
Core Fan Base
In the music community, building a core fan base is a crucial thing that need to be accomplished before anything else . Whats a core fan base ,these is your target audience, who support and listen to your type music or who understand your lyrical content. These people will always be loyal to you. They are the ones who promote , support and spread your products to the world whether you are down or you are trending. J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar did this from the very start. Their core fan base will always support, promote and stay loyal to them for the next 20+ years. Their lyrical content is the only thing that makes them great and it will always keep on attracting and dragging new audiences .
Versatility , Creative / Innovative
In each and every sector, experimenting - trying to introduce new tactics / strategies is essential . J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar strive to introduce new sounds, new flow , new video concepts in each and every way and as a result thier products change the music wave. There is no lack of freshness, they always mature both lyrically and in production. They fly to new heights artistically showing signs of maturity, they don't ride and engage to trending stunts, which will always be under fire from critiques. They are not to be compared to other rappers , who use the same type of instruments that made them blow at start, and use them in their next projects.
Superlative lyrical Content
The most important part i will always talk about when it comes to music career management . A writer should write content that a lecturer from Harvard or Cambridge university can use as a reference. For example students can use lyrics from To Pimp A Butterfly or 2014 Forest Hills Drive as a reference , why , because of quality lyrical content . No one in the world can condemn music that helps to promote civilization , integration and playing a big role in spreading love. Cole's and Lamar's music will last for a long period of time , because of its impact .You can track that there is depth and uniqueness in their lyrical content .
Visionary
Why is it essential to have a vision , so as to induce positivity or optimism in you mind . Lamar and Cole had a vision. They knew where they were heading to and they never let any tending wave disturb their journey . Rewinding back to the old days , these two stars were keen to get to the positions where they are right now . Cole and Lamar worked hard and originated their own path ways. These two legends always wanted to play a major role in changing the world. Now they help to spread civilization to millions of people around the world .through their music. They deserve to be on "The World Greatest Musicians of All Times" list.